Senior Janae Strickland, school record holder in the women's shot put
 
Senior Janae Strickland, school record holder in the women's shot put
  
 
Tiger Track & Field To Take On Big 12 Outdoor

Mizzou visits Norman for the first time since 1992

April 28, 2004

Recap |  Results

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NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Missouri track and field team is in Norman, Okla., for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships to be held Thursday thru Saturday, April 29-May 1. The Tigers return 20, nine women and 11 men, who earned all-Big 12 honors at the 2003 Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas. Competition beginning Thursday will feature the hammer throw, the first day of the combined events, and the 10,000-meter run.

The Tigers are returning to Norman for the first time since the 1992 Big Eight Championships. The Sooners' John Jacobs Field has recently been renovated to better accommodate a conference meet.

The Field
The schools of the Big 12 will provide some of the best competition going for any conference in the nation. According to the Trackwire Top 25, six men's and five women's teams are in the top 25 in the nation. The Baylor men come in as the No. 5 team in the nation thanks to a strong sprinting and relay group. Texas and Nebraska come in as favorites on the women's side; they rank No. 3 and 4 in the nation, respectively.

What to Look for This Weekend
Being the Big 12 Conference meet it is wise to be ready for about anything. From the Tigers, look for some big performances out of the entire group, as for three straight weeks, the team has battled some horrible weather, hampering any good times or marks. The weather on Friday looks the most dicey as a good chance of a line of severe storms will come through that night.

 

 

Missouri's History at the Big 12 Outdoor
The best finish in school history at the Big 12 Outdoor for the men was in 2002 and 2001 when the Tigers took third place both years. The women's best year in the Big 12 Outdoor came last year in 2003 with a fourth place finish.

Last year, the Tiger men finished with a fourth place finish thanks in a big part to Russ Bell and Christian Cantwell. Bell scored 20 individual points, winning a conference championship in the hammer throw event. Cantwell earned 14 points after winning the shot put event and gaining seventh place finishes in the discus and hammer throw.

The last Missouri conference outdoor championship came in 1951, when the Tigers were part of the Big Seven.

Patten Third; Woolsey Sixth in the Nation
In her first meet of the outdoor season at the Stanford Invitational, sophomore Ashley Patten took the field by storm, winning the collegiate title in the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:05.43. That time places her third in the nation entering the weekend and tops on the Big 12 performance list.

Conrad Woolsey has faired well this outdoor season. The junior transfer from Northwest Missouri State has come out the gate early as his personal-best shot put throw of 62 feet, 5 inches (19.02m) places him No. 6 in the nation in the event and third in the Big 12 Conference.

A Shot In The Dark
Senior Janae Strickland reset her year-old school record in the shot put at the Nebraska Quadrangular two weeks ago. The uniqueness of the throw was that it occurred in near darkness. Once the sun had went down, the Nebraska track provided very limited lighting, but the competition went on. Strickland launched a throw of 54 feet, 2 inches (16.51m) on her fourth throw, breaking her previous record by nearly a foot.

Freshmen Leading the Way
The Missouri men are very young. Looking down Missouri's performance list, seven events for the Tigers are led by freshmen. Football wide receiver and Tiger sprinter Greg Bracey leads the Tigers in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Jimmie Jones is tops in the 400-meter dash and roommate Marcus Mayes leads the team in the 800-meters and is ninth on the Big 12 performance list. Austin Kerkhover is the Tigers 400m Hurdle man. Bobby Musil leads the team in the discus throw. And, Bjorn Sommerfeldt is Missouri's No. 1 man in the decathlon and No. 2 on the Big 12 list.

On Top of the Big 12
Now two female Tigers hold the top spot in the Big 12 Conference entering the weekend. Distance runner sophomore Ashley Patten sits first in the 800-meter run. Senior Holly Scherder is number one in the conference in the hammer throw.

Weather
The weather seems to be an interesting issue once again for the Tigers. Thursday should be warm and dry, but very windy. Winds are expected to gust up to 35 miles-per-hour and temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s. Friday will be interesting as well. A strong line of thunderstorms may come through sometime in the late afternoon, a time slated for the track preliminary rounds. Saturday's weather looks much better, almost perfect. A sunny day with a temperature around 75 could await the Tigers for the final day of competition.

Meet Results and Info
Visit mutigers.com or soonersports.com following the meet for complete results. A meet report will follow each day of competition.

Rohr, Lee Finish As All-Americans

06/12/2009 - Track

Although Friday marked the end of the 2009 outdoor season for Missouri Track and Field, the Tigers finished the season with two more All-Americans in Chris Rohr and Krishna Lee despite more weather issues pushing back the start of the NCAA Outdoor Championships well past the 11 a.m. start time.

Rise Repeats As All-American

06/12/2009 - Track

After a grueling, nearly nine-hour competition, Tiger decathlete Lars Rise battled the elements and 21 other competitors over two days to finish his 2009 track season as an All-American for the second straight year on day two of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Tigers Qualify Despite Weather Issues

06/10/2009 - Track

Although weather problems would affect day one of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Tigers were still able to compete, paying off with three finals qualifiers in the hammer throw and pole vault and a top ten placing so far in five events of the decathlon.

Rohr Advances to Finals on First Attempt in Hammer Throw

06/10/2009 - Track

The Tigers had a strong start during the first event of the NCAA National Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. as Senior Chris Rohr automatically advanced to the finals of the Hammer Throw

Tigers Ready For Nationals

06/09/2009 - Track

Six Tigers have made it through the regional round of qualifying and have been accepted to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Arkansas' John McDonnell Field beginning tomorrow morning.